


Rebel Boy In Love With A Small Town Girl

by sparkinside (boomersoonerash)



Series: 31 Days Of Tricks [14]
Category: Hanson (Band), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Daryl Dixon in Love, F/M, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Kinktober, Kinktober 2017, Kissing, Marriage Proposal, Modern Era, Morning Sickness, No Smut, Older Man/Younger Woman, POV Multiple, Pregnancy, Sleeping Together, Sleepy Cuddles, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 03:44:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12356748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boomersoonerash/pseuds/sparkinside
Summary: Avery and Daryl are still trying to navigate what exactly they are but an unexpected bump in the road may decide it for them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Paint

Forcing a smile, Avery sat at the desk in her office after a long day of counseling sessions. Today being the day she worked with teenagers, and while she loved her job, loved helping teens cope with stuff through art, sometimes it was exhausting. Just like sometimes it was awkward.

Today had been both for her. The awkward bit coming in when she had her first session of the day, a new patient named Ron Anderson.

Maybe she should have realized from the last name that he was Jessie's son. The same Jessie who was on and off with Daryl.

But she hadn't realized it until Jessie had dropped Ron off and they had come face to face with each other. 

Things got awkward because they knew they were both sleeping with the same man now.

They had been sharing him for nine months now, ever since Daryl's birthday when he had taken her home while Jessie had a shift at the diner.

Daryl was unable to chose between them even after so long still, which Avery pretended didn't hurt. She figured maybe she deserved him sleeping with her while also sleeping with Jessie. After all, she had up and left him years ago and he still held that against her.

Even with the run in with Jessie, they had played nice, especially in front of her son, who at least for now seemed oblivious to what his mother and his new counselor had in common.

Maybe he'd always stay that way since most of his issues were his anger over his parents’ divorce still. Anger that Avery had found out was usually directed at his mother because he blamed her since she was the one who left his dad.

Pete was the one who had cheated and Ron just kept his father on a pedestal despite the fact that he was abusive. He had abused Jessie, and Avery suspected he was also rough with Ron and Ron's little brother Sam.

The exhausting part of her day kicked in sometime after her appointment with Ron, around lunchtime when she had eaten then promptly had to lose the contents of her lunch. The only thing keeping her from getting sick more than once had been drinking a ginger-ale from the vending machine as well as going out and buying saltine crackers to force down.

It hadn't been enough to sustain her energy though so she was still exhausted. She just wanted to leave work and go home to nap for several hours but she couldn't because, like an idiot, she had agreed to go to some church event her mom was throwing for some of the ladies.

Diana had asked Avery to come and help them paint as they were trying to learn new skills and Avery couldn't tell her mom no.

She had always been unable to tell her mom no, except when she first started dating Daryl and her parents had been wary. Then Avery would have told her mom no if she had tried to forbid the relationship, but she hadn't.

Heaving a sigh, she moved from her seat as she dropped her smile. She went to clean up her office some before heading to her mom's house. She hoped it didn't make her late. Hanson's did have a habit of being late for everything.

Late for events and sometimes late for their own periods.

The latter being something Avery was late for right now too. Though she was chalking it up to the stresses of the job which she did love.

She tried not to let herself think that she could join the ranks of Taylor and Isaac and have children before marriage.

*****

Taking several deep breaths as she stood in front of the bathroom sink in her mom's house, Avery reached down to turn the water off after splashing some on her face as well as drinking some.

She decided she needed just a bit of water to settle her stomach because she had gotten sick again. Almost right after stepping foot in her mom's house and the smell of cooking food had hit her nostrils. She had made a beeline for the bathroom.

She stayed in the bathroom until she was sure she was fine, but she was afraid the moment she stepped outside the bathroom and the food smell hit her that she'd once again be back in the bathroom. Avery hoped she wasn't because she needed to get the paints and the easels set up for her mom and her mom's church friends who'd be showing up at any moment.

"Get it together Avery," she told herself before moving to exit the bathroom. She opened the door but paused when she saw her mom and her nineteen year old sister standing there waiting for her.

Seeing their arms crossed over their chests and the same look on their face made Avery certain just how much Zoe was a mini Diana Hanson already.

"You're pregnant," Diana spoke first sounding certain in her words. Words that unsettled Avery because she hadn't even told her mom she was late for her period this month.

Then again Diana had seven kids so maybe she had an internal pregnancy radar like some people had a gaydar.

Shaking her head, Avery gave her mom and sister an innocent smile. "I'm no such thing," she denied, not wanting to admit the same thought had crossed her own mind.

That she was pregnant by a man who couldn't make up his mind. A man she had been so careful with when it came to sex, but the past few months she had been a bit reckless.

She’d forgotten to take her pill after a few too many long work days and then had not told Daryl to use a condom when they had sex on the days she knew she had forgotten to take her pill.

It was something she knew she should have done, and something she was afraid Daryl would blame her for if she was pregnant. She wasn't sure if he wanted a baby yet, or even if he wanted one at all.

Avery knew how his upbringing had been. She knew he had always mentioned when he had been around kids before that he was afraid of one day screwing up kids if he ever found himself with one. Even that hadn't been enough to give Avery an indication on if he wanted a baby or not.

"Avery," Zoe was the one who spoke this time as if she was chiding her sister for lying. "You know better than to lie to Mom."

"Yeah, you know better than to lie me young lady," Diana teased her with a smile.

Avery surprised at how well her mom was taking the prospect of Avery maybe being pregnant before marriage. Then again this had happened with two of her sons. Maybe she was just used to her kids letting her down so she went with the punches life threw her.

Avery was sure if her dad were still alive he'd be the one freaking out now.

"Fine," Avery sighed softly deciding to fess up. "I'm late...just by a week but I'm still late," she said knowing her mom would understand because Avery was like clockwork.

She had never been late before.

Diana smiled after that though and Avery couldn't tell if it was forced or genuine. "Then you need to buy a test and find out what I and Zoe know. You're pregnant and I'm going to assume that Daryl is the father."

Avery nodded her head, "If I'm pregnant then yes Daryl is the father," she confirmed.

But before her mom or Zoe could say anything else, a knock sounded on the door and Avery knew her mom's church friends were here.

Avery also knowing this now meant she'd have to race to set things up.

*****

After leaving her mom's house, Avery turned her radio up as she drove down the back roads. She had made a stop at the local pharmacy where she took her mom's advice and bought a pregnancy test.

Just to know for sure though she was still praying for a negative. She was hoping it was the stress of her job like she kept telling herself it was.

Even with the test, she didn't want to think about a possible stork arrival. So instead of thinking, she just turned the music up and drove.

She was heading to a house that was almost her second home...almost...on the nights when Jessie wasn't there, and she wouldn't be tonight.

Avery knew Jessie was at work so she could go to Daryl's for the night, but the moment she pulled into Daryl's driveway her face fell when she saw a familiar old beat up truck in the driveway.

A truck she hadn't seen in years yet she knew what the truck being here meant. Merle, who had been in jail since Avery arrived in town last year, was back out of jail and back to trying to get in Daryl's good graces. Something Avery hoped didn't happen but probably would.

Daryl was just too forgiving when it came to his older brother who always kept letting him down.

Shaking her head Avery turned her car off and got out. She headed to the porch where she let herself in with the key Daryl had given her four months ago. The moment she stepped inside she made a face as she heard loud music coming from down the hallway.

If Avery guessed, it was the second bedroom which Daryl had made into a guest room despite his lack of needing to ever use it as such.

So with that knowledge Avery shut the door and followed the sounds at least until she passed the kitchen where she paused when she saw Daryl in there standing at the sink and doing dishes.

Because, of course, if there was a mess to clean up, Merle left it to Daryl to clean up whether it be dishes or messes with Merle's own life.

"So your brother is here?" Avery asked as she walked into the kitchen speaking loud enough so that Daryl could hear her.

Daryl turned at her words though he kept his gaze down like he was ashamed that Avery caught him. "He just got out of jail," he told her as if that explained everything. "He had nowhere else to go and he said he wants to get things straight. Get a job and stop fucking up."

Avery laughed bitterly as she walked closer to Daryl, "He always says that," she told him knowing nothing had changed in her years of not seeing Merle. "I just wish you had told me he was getting out of jail so I wouldn't be surprised by his truck in the driveway or have a headache from the loud music."

"Sorry," Daryl apologized as he reached out and pulled her into him once she was close enough. "I should have told you but I knew you wouldn't like it."

"Yeah I wouldn't, and I don't," Avery admitted as she smiled softly. Letting her head rest against his. "But I get it he is your brother."

Her words were true. She did understand his need to help Merle. If it were one of her siblings she'd do the same she was sure.

"I love you," Daryl whispered before kissing her softly on the lips.

Avery responding back to the kiss as she moved a bit closer to him, doing her best to drown out the loud music that Merle was playing from down the hall.

*****

Avery, who had woken in the middle of the night, laid beside a sleeping Daryl. His hand was resting ever so lightly against her stomach, not knowing that she could be pregnant with his baby.

The thought being enough to make her move out of bed doing her best not to wake him. She searched the room for her clothes to put back on because there was no way with Merle here that she'd go to the bathroom naked like she used to.

She didn’t need for Merle to accidentally see her naked or anything.

"Ave?" Daryl asked, his voice still all sleep soft, which made Avery smile as she turned to look down at him.

"Just going to the bathroom," Avery told him after she was dressed, having decided that her panties and his long t-shirt would do.

It would be enough in case Merle happened to see her.

"You're coming back, right?"

Nodding her head Avery's smile grew, "Of course I'm coming back," she told him not sure why he'd think she wouldn't.

His issues with her leaving couldn't run deep as a simple bathroom trip making him uneasy could they?

Watching him visibly relax at her words, Avery's smile faltered guessing that they could which made her sad. She also felt even more guilty for the pain she had caused him from leaving.

But she didn't have time to think about that. Instead she turned on her heel and left his room. She headed down to the bathroom where, by some miracle, she had been able to hide the pregnancy test before going to bed last night.

Making it to the bathroom Avery opened the door and headed inside. Turning the light on before shutting the door, she went to the medicine cabinet where she had hidden the box behind a really tall box of bandaids.

Pulling the box out Avery read the directions before opening it, following the directions as said and then laying the stick on the bathroom sink as she shut the toilet lid. She sat down on it as she waited.

Her nerves were building as she thought of the possible outcomes. If it was negative then her life could go on as it was, but if she were pregnant...god if she were pregnant...everything would change. At least for her and maybe for Daryl too if he wanted the baby. 

He was forty-eight and had gone so long without having one and now here she was maybe pregnant with his baby.

Her mind again pondered the ‘what if’ of having his baby. She could so vividly see them together raising a child.

A little boy with his eyes and her smile or a little girl with her hair and his attitude. Avery hated that she could picture him interacting with their hypothetical baby just based on how he was with her nephew Lennon.

Daryl was so good with kids even if he was afraid of screwing them up.

When Avery figured enough time had passed she reached over for the stick on the bathroom sink and looked at. Looked at what was to be her fate.


	2. Chapter 2

Standing in his kitchen as he ate the bagel he had fixed himself, Daryl made a face as he swallowed the bite in his mouth knowing full well he'd never get used to eating the damn things. Avery had bought some and left them here, and until he did groceries they were all he had left for breakfast.

So, for now, it would do at least for today which is what he had told himself yesterday too and he still hadn't done a damn thing to fix the situation.

Looking up when he heard footsteps Daryl watched as Merle came into the kitchen with a box in his hand, his brother seeming more into the box then anything else.

"What ya got?" Daryl asked which made Merle look up at him finally a weird look on his older brother's face.

"Which one of your bitches is pregnant?" Merle asked him once he made it to the counter, laying the box down.

Daryl laid his half eaten bagel down as he picked up the box. His head felt all swimmy and dizzy when he saw the reason why Merle had asked him which one of his women was pregnant.

The box Merle had in his hand was an empty pregnancy test box.

"Where'd you get this?" Daryl questioned Merle with a raised eyebrow, no longer feeling hungry anymore, not even for the nasty ass bagel.

In fact he almost felt as if he could throw that bagel back up because this was the last thing he had expected to see today. Maybe ever really.

"Trashcan in the bathroom," Merle answered simply. "Saw it and was wondering what it was doing there, but I can tell from the look on your face you had no clue one of your bitches is pregnant either."

Daryl shook his head as he laid the box down. "Could be," he told him knowing that just because there was an empty box it didn't mean it was positive but if it wasn't wouldn't the stick have been in the trash can too.

"And what, Avery or Jessie just decided to keep a negative pregnancy test instead of just throwing it away," Merle spoke saying what Daryl had been thinking. "Whoever it is, they're pregnant."

"It's Avery," Daryl sighed as he picked up the half eaten bagel and walked to the trashcan to throw it away. "Took out the trash yesterday morning and Jessie didn't come by at all yesterday," he said knowing it wasn't that hard to figure out which one could be pregnant.

More than likely was pregnant.

It was Avery who had taken the test which, now that he thought about it, it made sense. Avery had woken him up last night when she had gone into the bathroom.

Woken him from a dream in which she had left him again. Ran off to New York which was something Daryl wasn't sure he'd ever get over.

Something he was worried about even still knowing she could be with child. She could decide to run off and never come back.

Hell she hadn't even told him about the maybe baby or that she thought she was pregnant. He had to find out from Merle finding the box in the trash. What if she hadn't ever planned to tell him because, like a fool, he had let her play him.

Maybe all she wanted from him was a baby then she'd finally run off to New York or wherever the hell her dreams took her.

That was the excuse she had given him the first time. It was her dreams that made her just basically leave him by dumping him in a letter.

"You going to talk to her about it?" Merle asked him and Daryl came out of his thoughts.

A part of him knew he should talk to Avery about it but he wouldn't. If she wanted to tell him then she would.

"Nope," Daryl spoke with a shake of his head before leaving the kitchen, needing to head to work before he was late. He didn’t really feel like getting an earful from Zac if he was late to work.

*****

Sitting outside of Avery's work at lunchtime Daryl sat on his bike deciding if he should just go inside or leave. A part of him knew he shouldn't be here. He wasn’t even sure why he had come.

Daryl knew it was no use talking about things because if she was pregnant she didn't want to tell him. Yet, here he was like a fool sitting outside her work because he did want to talk. He wanted to know for sure that she was pregnant or she wasn't so he could move forward either way.

This was exactly what propelled him to get off his bike, taking his helmet off, and laying it down on the bike before heading inside Avery's building, hoping he remembered the way to her office.

He'd only been here a handful of times so he still didn't know the place too well yet. Hopefully he knew it well enough to get to Avery's office, because he hated getting directions from people.

Sighing in relief when he did make it to her office, he rolled his eyes when he found her door shut but he went ahead and opened it without even knocking.

The action that startled Avery who was standing in front of an easel painting something. She seemed to stop when she heard the door open.

Daryl caught the slight jump she did before turning to see who had come in. When she saw him a smile worked it's way on her lips.

"Daryl," she spoke sounding surprised to see him. "I...what are you doing here?" she asked as she put the paintbrush down.

She wiped her hands off on the apron she had put on over her clothes to paint. Daryl fought the urge to go closer to her and push the hair that had fallen out of her bun off her face.

"Came to talk to you," Daryl told her as he stepped further inside. Closing the door behind him. "Didn't mean to interrupt your painting," he told her as he eyed what she had been working on.

She had been painting a woman holding a baby. An image that told him everything he needed to know. She was pregnant with his baby.

Avery raised an eyebrow as she looked back up at Daryl, "Talk to me?" she asked and again she sounded surprised, obviously not having pieced together in her head that Daryl knew about the baby.

"You left an empty pregnancy test box in my trash," Daryl told her watching as her confused look faded. "Merle found it and asked me about it which surprised me since I didn't...I had no clue it was there."

"I took it this morning," Avery told him confirming what he had suspected. Her bathroom trip which had woken him up had been to take the pregnancy test. "I..I didn't know how to tell you that I even thought I could be pregnant," she sighed before shaking her head.

"Were you going to tell me that you are?" Daryl asked her watching as she paled slightly now. "I mean the test wasn't in the trash and I don't see why you'd keep a negative one."

Avery visibly took a deep breath, "I was working up the courage," she shrugged before pushing the free hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear. "I wasn't...I mean....I....I didn't intend to keep it a secret. I just was afraid of how you'd handle this news. I'm not even sure if you've ever wanted a baby, which is funny since we dated for so long before I left. Then, since being back of course, we've never talked about it. You've been too busy hating me for the past and fucking both Jessie and I."

Going silent after Avery's confession Daryl wasn't sure what to say to her words, knowing he couldn't fault her for being afraid of how he'd take the news. They had never discussed having children before and he wasn't known for having the best temper in the world when things happened that he didn't like.

But, it wasn't like he'd walk away from his responsibilities. He'd never done that and now that he knew she was pregnant he wouldn't walk away. Wouldn't let her go through this alone.

He'd probably even do everything he could to make sure she didn't run again. Though he knew he couldn't make her stay in this town which never seemed like it fit her despite having him in it.

"I don't hate you for the past," Daryl finally spoke choosing to bring up that part of her excuse for not telling him. "I may still have issues with it but I don't hate you," he sighed before walking closer to her and letting his hands rest on either side of her cheeks, making her look at him. "Love you too much to hate you."

Avery gave a sad smile at that which broke Daryl's heart because her sad smiles just were not her true smiles that made her eyes sparkle and brought life to her.

"But you don't love me enough to make a choice between me or Jessie," she stated and again his heart was broken yet this time it was all his fault.

Her words held some truth to them. He didn't seem to love her enough to make a choice between her and the woman who had been taking up his bed for so long, even before Avery came riding back into town and into the place in his heart that she never left.

Heaving a sigh Daryl moved his hands away from her cheeks as he looked away from her now. "I was just...I kept her around to spite you," he admitted knowing it was a petty reason for continuing to sleep with Jessie.

It made him kind of an asshole for using Jessie like he had.

"I figured as much," Avery told him, a bit of judgement in her words, judgement which Daryl knew he deserved. As he looked up, however, his eyes landed on the painting Avery had been working on and Daryl hoped she could forgive him.

"I'd love to have a future with you now though Avie," Daryl said as he felt his cheeks getting hot. "I mean if you'd let me," he said knowing this was it.

He was finally making the choice he should have made after the first time they slept together again.

"Marry me Avie," Daryl blurted out before he could even stop himself.

Avery laughed softly as she raised an eyebrow, "You don't even have a ring," she said before shaking her head. "But, whenever you get one, I will say yes," she smiled and Daryl couldn't help himself.

He leaned in and pulled her into a kiss. Knowing when he got back home he'd pull out the damn ring he bought her before she left him all those years ago.

He’d properly ask her again and pray she meant it when she said she'd say yes when he had a ring to give her.


End file.
